Method Man Finally Hears Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’ for the First Time: Here’s How He Reacted

Method Man recorded and sent in his contributions for Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album, but never listened to the completed version of the notorious album, which was recorded from 2007 to 2013.

That changed in the Friday (Oct. 16) episode of Pablo Finds Out, which hosted a listening of the one-of-one Wu LP in Brooklyn with a select group of people, including Method Man.

“I can see why people would like it. I can see why some people would love it. For me, it had a few nostalgic moments on there. I don’t know if that’s good or bad,” Meth said. “You can tell [Cilvaringz] was emulating RZA’s sound as much as possible to the point it got a little mimicky. A bit long sometimes, but that’s what producers do, they’re like, ‘Look what I did.’ All in all, I do not hate this album.”

The Staten Island native continued: “Ringz got lucky with a lot of them darts because they are so good. My guys sounded really good. [Raekwon] could’ve stayed off the last joint, though — that’s not his pace. Again, I can see why people would like this album. I could see why people would love this album. Cilvaringz did his thing with this album, his production was on par with some of the stuff RZA would do back in the day. I’ll say it again, I don’t hate it.”

Method Man admitted he has a “chip on his shoulder” about the album due to its muddied public history, being passed around from “Pharma bro” Martin Shkreli, to the U.S. government seizing the album and now, art and crypto collective PleasrDAO has ownership of it. However, he went in with a non-biased approach to his first listen and didn’t allow the past to taint his review. “We found out that album ain’t as bad as I expected it to be,” Meth concluded.

At the 39-minute mark of the episode, fans can hear a snippet of one of Once Upon a Time‘s tracks featuring a smooth verse from Meth. “Never tell on your team or take shorts when you’re selling the beans/ Catch a body that’s a felony thing and every dream starts with C.R.E.A.M. that’s on everything,” he raps.

Wu-Tang recorded Once Upon a Time over the course of six years, with superfan-turned-producer Cilvaringz helming the production. He crafted a 31-track double-album with the Wu featuring assists from Redman and Cher.

Looking to challenge status quo of the music industry, Wu-Tang looked to make the album a one-of-one piece of fine art, rather than selling the album commercially. Shkreli, who was a pharmaceutical executive and former hedge-fund manager, purchased the elusive album for $2 million at a 2015 auction, which barred him from commercially distributing the LP for 88 years, until 2103.

Shkreli became known publicly as “Pharma bro” as he came under scrutiny for raising the price of the drug Darapin by 5,000 percent. He was arrested in 2015 for securities fraud and sentenced to seven years behind bars. Once Upon a Time was among the assets seized by the federal government in the $7.3 million judgment.

“Yes, to be honest,” RZA told People of accepting Shkreli’s involvement as part of the album’s lore. “Yes. You got to accept that. Even though it’s negative, you got to accept that. Because you know what? Look, maybe there was something negative in it anyway.”

In 2021, PleasrDAO purchased the album from the U.S. government for a reported price tag of $4 million to satisfy the judgment against Shkreli.

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is back in the spotlight thanks to the Netflix documentary The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable, which premiered on Friday, and takes fans behind the album’s creation with Cilvaringz.

Watch the full episode of Method Man listening to Once Upon a Time in Shaolin for the first time below.